Choosing the right pallet racking size can greatly improve storage efficiency, save your company a lot of money in storage costs, and make your workplace safer. Conversely, choosing the wrong pallet rack size can make warehouse management chaotic and even pose a serious safety hazard to your warehouse.
Before making a large purchase, you should clarify your actual storage needs so that you can pick the right warehouse storage racks. While this task may seem daunting at first, there are a few simple steps we can take to help determine the perfect pallet rack size. Below, we will show you how you should choose the right pallet rack size in simple steps from the perspective of a pallet rack manufacturer.
How to choose the right pallet rack size?
The first step is to determine the size and load of the pallet
Pallet rack sizes are usually customized based on the size of the pallets. Pallets come in many different sizes, and different pallet sizes will directly affect pallet rack sizes, so measuring the size of the pallets in your warehouse is the most critical first step. Taking plastic pallets as an example, we commonly see the following three standard plastic pallet sizes.
- L1200*D1000*H150mm
- L1100*D1100*H150mm
- L1200*D800*H150mm
How much does each pallet weigh on average(full load)? What is the weight of the heaviest pallet(full load)? Measure these data well, these are the key factors to determine the suitable load capacity of your rack, which can effectively avoid overloading. Overloading can cause warehouse racking collapse with disastrous consequences for your business, so you must measure the weight of the pallets accurately.
Also, informing the pallet rack manufacturer of the size and weight of the loaded pallets will help the business to produce an accurate quote for you, which will help you to anticipate the total cost of the project.
The second step is to determine the size and number of levels of the rack
Once you have measured the size and weight of the pallets, etc., we will use these data in this step. You can then design the size and number of levels of the pallet racking. When designing the dimensions of the pallet racking you need to pay attention to the following points.
- The length of the racks
- Depth of the racks
- The height of the racks
- Number of beam layers
- The load capacity of the racks
Length of racks
The length of the selective pallet racking is designed according to the size of the pallets, and for better cost savings, two pallets are usually placed on each level of the racking. A safety clearance of 100mm is reserved between pallets and pallets, and between pallets and racking upright, so that forklift operators have enough space to operate when carrying out storage work. Take a pallet of L1200*D1000mm as an example, 1200*2+300mm=2700mm, so the length of the racking is designed to be 2700mm.
The depth of the rack
The depth of the rack is also designed according to the size of the pallet, a typical application requires the depth of the upright frame to be 200mm smaller than the depth of the pallet. 100mm of the pallet extends in the front and back of the rack, this suspension helps the forklift driver to ensure that the pallet is completely resting on the two beams of the pallet rack when carrying out access work, improving the safety of the storage work.
Height of the rack
There are two factors that affect the height of the racking: the height of the warehouse and the maximum lift height that the forklift can reach.
You must accurately measure out the height of your warehouse, which will help you determine the size of your pallet racking. As a rule, the height of the racks should be lower than the lowest point of the warehouse ceiling. Also, for safety reasons, you should leave enough space for a fireproof shower system, which you will need to subtract from the height of the pallet racking when designing its dimensions.
The maximum height that a forklift or lift can reach is also something you should focus on when designing the dimensions of your warehouse racks. Take counterbalanced gravity forklift for example, its maximum lift height can reach six meters, then obviously when the height of the rack exceeds six meters it will not be able to complete the work of accessing the goods.
Many customers think that the height of warehouse racking will not exceed 10 meters, in fact, the height of warehouse racking is not limited, it mainly depends on the height of your warehouse, if your warehouse is high enough, we have a variety of high level racking such as narrow aisle racking and ASRS for you to choose, which is a warehouse racking system specially designed to make full use of vertical space to improve storage density. If you want to learn about all the types of pallet racking, read pallet racking types.
The number of rack beam layers
The number of pallet racking layers is also customized. You need to measure the total height of the pallets loaded with goods precisely and divide the height of the racking by the total height of the pallets, you will get the approximate number of rack beam layers. The number of levels of each set of racking is not fixed, the pallet racking beam can be adjusted up and down by 75mm, you can design the number of levels of racking according to the actual storage needs within the range of the warehouse height allowed.
The weight capacity of the racks
The weight capacity of the pallet racking is an important consideration when designing your pallet racking because it is closely related to warehouse safety and should not be ignored, you should measure the exact value and inform the pallet racking manufacturer. As an example, if each pallet carries 1000kg, the weight capacity of pallet racking is 2000kg per level. So when you are choosing a beam, you must choose a beam that has a weight capacity greater than 2000kg. If you want to know more about “pallet racking weight capacity”, please read pallet racking weight capacity.
The third step is to choose the size of upright and beams
For pallet racking, the main component structure is the upright and beams. The size and thickness of the upright and beams affect the load-bearing capacity of the racking. You need to choose the right size and thickness of the crossbeam to ensure the load-bearing capacity and at the same time to maximize the cost savings for you. For the calculation method of bearing capacity, Mracking has a set of bearing capacity calculation table in line with international standards.
Take the L2700mm beam as an example, the following table shows the comparison of the bearing capacity of different sizes and thicknesses of beams.
| Beam size/Beam thickness | 1.2mm | 1.5mm | 1.8mm |
| 2700*80*45mm | 628kg | 851kg | 965kg |
| 2700*100*45mm | 989kg | 1337kg | 1588kg |
| 2700*120*45mm | 1521kg | 2050kg | 2438kg |
| 2700*140*45mm | 2195kg | 2950kg | 3510kg |
| 2700*160*45mm | 3018kg | 4051kg | 4824kg |
Contact our engineers now to help you calculate the load capacity of your beams.
What is the standard pallet rack size?
Usually, pallet rack is customized according to the size of the warehouse and pallets, but to save time, with Mracking’s nearly 20 years of experience in manufacturing warehouse racks, we have selected the most commonly used pallet rack sizes as the standard pallet rack size for you to choose.
Mracking provides the following standard pallet rack sizes for your choice. These standard sizes are designed according to international standard specifications of pallets, so they can meet the storage needs of most companies.
Standard pallet rack sizes are as follows.
| Standard Pallet Rack Size | Beam/layer | Loading Capacity/kg | Price/set |
| L2300*D1000*H3000mm | 2 | 1000 | $155 |
| L2300*D1000*H4500mm | 4 | 1000 | $248 |
| L2500*D900*H3000mm | 2 | 1000 | $162 |
| L2500*D900*H4500mm | 4 | 1000 | $265 |
| L2700*D600*H3000mm | 2 | 1000 | $174 |
| L2700*D600*H4500mm | 4 | 1000 | $277 |
| L2700*D800*H3000mm | 2 | 1000 | $188 |
| L2700*D800*H4500mm | 4 | 1000 | $282 |
The above table is the reference price of the standard pallet rack size, if you want to know more about pallet rack size and price, contact us now.
If you have measured your warehouse dimensions, you can send us the detailed warehouse dimension data and our team will design your warehouse racking layout and provide you with a floor plan and a three-dimensional drawing of the project for your confirmation. Then we will provide you with an instant quote for your reference.
In our article, we have introduced you in detail how to choose the right pallet racking size. If you have any comments or you want to know more about warehouse racking size related issues, please contact us. Our engineers will provide you with answers.